Grey area
by shadowwriter01
Summary: A confrontation between revolutionaries, marines and the Straw Head Pirates. The same situation from different point of views.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: One Piece is belonging to Eiichiro Oda

Grey area

The small town in the new world was crowding with soldiers, members of the revolutionary army who were currently deployed at this part of the world.

He was one of this soldiers. The name he was known by today was Jack. This was not his true name, but he had been using it since he was part of the army or also "Jack the runner" that had been his nickname for the time, well, for as long as he had been on the run.

His real name had he given up a long time ago to protect both himself and others.

On his head was a bounty of 38.000.000 belly and that for a number of reasons. The first of them was that he was born.

His parents had been slaves and that had made him automatically a slave too, by default. But they had managed to escape. For that alone they had been pursued by the marines as long as he lived.

Since he was a child he had been a wanted person without even having done anything.

On his endless run however, the experience that had given him his new name, he had to break the law several times alone to survive and he had to fight off the marines who had been attacking him. But all that he had only done to defend himself.

Of course that made him a "criminal" in the eyes of the government all over again or rather it gave them another excuse to hunt for him and so his bounty had climbed higher and higher over the last years.

It was the absurdity of a "justice" that judged people for things they had **not** done and then blamed them for defending themselves.

So he became a criminal without ever wanting to be or deserving it, just because he got into the machinations of the world governments justice when before he was even born.

Many of his fellow revolutionaries shared similar stories, too many.

His entire life he had been a refugee, until he had met Dragon and decided to join his army. From then on he had been fighting instead. It didn´t take long to convince him.

Monkey D. Dragon the leader of the revolution was a charismatic and very impressive person and was able to win the trust and loyalty of others. When you were talking to him you knew that he believed in what he was saying and you couldn´t help but be caught by his words.

Some people said be had something called the king´s disposition, a form of haki that was said to be able to influence others minds and spirits. But his men knew it was more than that. It was his personality, just something about his being.

He had always known this so called world government was a blood thirsty tyranny that terrorized it´s citizens, enslaved people and lied, trying to frame others for it´s crimes. Like so many other he knew that from personal experience.

The revolutionaries were a force fighting to end this tyranny. Dragon and his commanders wanted to free the world from oppresson and give everyone the chance of a life in peace, people like him.

Or at least he had believed so for the longest time.

The revolutionary army was right, the world government was wrong? That had always seemed a bit too easy.

Their division of the revolution army had currently been operating on a group of islands close to the entrance of the new world.

Until a short time ago they had been hiding at a secret hideout, staying out of the sight of the marines and working in the underground. All this time waiting for the command to finally strike.

But all that had changed right now. A few weeks ago their battalion had occupied a town on one of the neighboring islands and taken complete control of it and it citizens.

It wasn´t what he had expected and it wasn´t what he was used to. Instead of greeted as liberators, like it was so often before, the revolutionaries were seen as invaders and treated according to it.

This wasn´t like it should be, he thought.

And that wasn´t even the worst of the situation.

Of course the world government had found out very quick what they had done and the town was now surrounded by an army of marines.

Battle-ships were lying in waiting, ready to bomb this entire town if necessary for their victory. As always, the world government was shown neither scruples or mercy or any concern for their citizens.

Worse, they should have known that it would come to this. Whoever had ordered this attack should have known right from the beginning that the government would react like this. They had knowingly set this town up for destruction.

There was no sense to deny it. The death of all this people would be as much their fault as it was the marines.

Maybe it had just been naïve and too single minded, to ever think that their aims could be achieved without hurting civilians or compromising their own morals in the process.

Was all this necessary for the greater good?

Maybe their leaders were really thinking so and then, he didn´t knew if he shared their opinions anymore.

Or maybe the problem was lying somewhere else and it was something different that was going on here.

Their sector commander had told them that they had direct order from the high command to take this island.

But if they were honest, thinking about it, nobody besides him had ever really seen this orders.

Were they truly doing this at the order of the leadership or was their commander following his own agenda?

He knew that some of the others were sharing his suspicions. But even if they were right, what should they do about it?

They were already in this situation, trapped in a town blockaded by marine soldiers. It was far too late for them to get out of here.

Another thing was that the Straw Hat Pirates had been seen in the town. They had gotten into several fights with their soldiers so far and some of the men were saying that their crew was preparing a strike to stop both, them and the marines.

It looked as if even the son of their supreme commander was against them.

What did that say about what they were doing here?

By what he had heard, the sons ideas about right and wrong, even when he was a pirate, were in general not so different from the fathers. Despite all the other obvious differences.

His doubts were certainly growing larger and larger. But what should, what could he do?

The battle would begin soon and it will be bloody.

* * *

><p>In every chapter of this story, the same situation will be described from a different point of view by a different group. In the second, it will be from the marines and their version of the story.<p>

The comments about Dragon´s king´s disposition haki made here are very vague and partly inaccurate. Saying that it was not haki but something about his being for example is absurd, since the kings haki is a representation about exactly this qualities.

But this thoughts are meant to come from somebody who has only limited knowledge about haki and nothing about the king´s disposition in particular. So this are statements from a unqualified person and were meant as such.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The marines who had surrounded the town were lying in waiting, for now at least.

"Do you think it will happen soon?" One marine soldier asked another from their

"Who knows. If you ask me, I would rather have it to begin now than later. At least then we would have it behind us."

"They will all die right?" He was talking about the people in the town.

"Probably", the other marine answered with some sadness. "This damn criminals. This is all their fault."

"The criminals are not the only ones to blame here", a voice under-broke them.

"Rear admiral Smoker." One of the marines greeted the officer who had overheard them talking.

"We are the ones who have this town surrounded, we are the one who have their guns pointed at them. When it comes to the worst, it will be as much our fault then it is theirs."

Smoker had always a record for speaking his mind, if it was politically correct or not.

Currently he was one of the marine officers at the place. He and Tashigi, both recently promoted, had just been stationed here a few weeks ago, back then when this entire crisis had been just beginning.

"Sir", one of the soldiers said intimidated.

"But sir, we can not simply let this criminals get away", the other pointed out.

"So we get all this people killed only to take a few criminals out?" Smoker asked the man.

"That is not what I meant sir."

"Believe me", Smoker told him, "nobody here will `get away´ with anything."

It was quite simple.

A group of criminals or in this case it were revolutionaries, but that didn´t really matter. Everybody who opposed the world government was per definition a criminal, was holding a certain area under their control.

According to the code of "absolute justice". That meant the criminals needed to be neutralized, in every way necessary, no matter the cost.

This meant in truly every way, even if it meant harming civilians and property.

The system had been working like that for centuries and every marine had been trained to accept it. Nobody, at least in the higher ranks, really questioned it. Of cause that also meant that for the longest time, nobody had actually looked for alternatives.

And admittedly, with this philosophy they had been more or less successfully keeping pirates and criminals at bay for years by now, despite the pirate age. Or so it seemed. In fact, they were often causing more harm when this "criminals" did in the first place. The truth was many people feared them as much as their enemies.

And so the marines continued to solve their problems like they always had, without ever over thinking it.

At every price? That was the only question here.

Many of the marines were afraid about the coming decision that they knew had to be made, a decision that had actually already fallen.

This group of revolutionaries, there was no question, was holding the town hostage.

The answer was easy, attack and destroy the criminals. Even if it meant the death of everyone else in the town. The only question was when the attack would happen.

Rear admiral Smoker looked at the situation and was all but happy.

Typical, he thought, the marines would rather killing every innocent being in that town than letting the criminals escape.

He had seen something like this all too often in the last years. It was the usual way of the government to deal with situations like this, rather to destroy everything than making any compromises.

And their current leader would certainly not hesitate to do exactly that. Vice admiral Onigumo was the same officer who gave at Enies Lobby the command to sank one of their own ships, another fact Smoker had just found out after his latest promotion. This was certainly the last man under who this crisis could be ended peacefully.

So they will "protect" the people of this town by destroying them.

Too bad that he was obviously not the only one who had realized this. The rebels were holding the town and their marines were standing outside, ready to burn everything into the ground.

It was all too obvious, Smoker thought.

Why did this fools thought the revolutionaries had even occupied the town in the first place?

There was nothing to gain for them here. Nothing except probably causing a massacre, a massacre that the marines would be responsible for.

The commander of this particular rebel group was Burg E. Baris, by reputation one of the most uncompromising and dangerous men anywhere under Dragon´s command, a fanatic, a zealot. Exactly like Onigumo, Smoker told himself.

The only reason this man had for all this was that he knew how the marines would react, especially under this leader.

One psychopath was leading the one army, the other the second, he though cynically. The ones to pay the price would be everyone else.

They would destroy everything, kill everybody and give Burg exactly what he wanted. It would paint the marines and the world government as butchers and fools if it ever came out and the revolutionaries would make sure that it came out. They were doing exactly what their enemy wanted.

Why in the world was he the only one in this place who seemed to realize this?

To be honest Smoker could care less what the government looked like in the eyes and the public. They were butchers and fools when it came to him. But all this people, the civilians and the soldiers didn´t deserve to die because of this.

He really wished he could do anything to stop this insanity, but he could do nothing. But he would only loose his own head if he tried to confront Onigumo and it would still change nothing.

It was not as if Smoker feared the man in person, but in the end he had the world government standing behind him. So none of the soldiers would back him up. Except Tashigi and this would only drag her into the same situation too.

No, he had once again to rely on someone else to solve the problems he had found himself in.

As it had turned out, the straw-hat pirates were also here. They had obviously made a stop in this town on their way deeper into the new world and now they were trapped here like everybody else.

Exactly the pirates they had been hunting for the last years now, but this was certainly not the situation he had imagined or wanted to meet them again.

However this time, he had to admit, he was actually glad this pirates were here.

Smoker had to admit, they had a very good track record in dealing with situations like this. Back in Alabasta, when they had defeated crocodile was the first time to actually appreciate this group.

Since the straw-hats were here, they would probably get active very soon. Once again, he was relying on pirates. It was nearly a joke.

He could only hope that they would be able to stop both Onigumo and Burg.

"Do you think they will make their move soon?" Tashigi, who was now standing next to him asked. It wasn´t exactly clear who she was meaning, it could be the revos or their own people.

But he knew she was talking about the strawhats.

"Yes, I think it is really time that we see something of them."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The ten pirates were standing over a group of defeated fighters, both revolutionaries and marines.

The armies however were still standing.

Marines were standing behind a siege wall of cannons and shields, while a number of revolutionary soldiers had taken cover inside the buildings of the town.

It had all come as Smoker had thought it would.

A number of soldiers of both, marines and rebels, who were terrorizing the town´s citizens had run into the Straw-Hats and were taken out by them.

Of course both, Onigumo and the resistance commander Burk wanted to take the "interlopers" out by themselves.

The presence of the pirates was a threat to both their plans.

Onigumo wanted to create a example for the rest of the world out of this battle, even if it meant the death of every single man, woman and child in this town

And Burk wanted to sacrifice this entire town to demonstrate the entire world the evil of the government and the marines.

With other words they were both just as insane and they were practically playing into each others hands.

What was needed was someone who didn´t have to answer to either side and was strong enough to stop both of them, someone like Straw-Hat.

As much as a part of Smoker hated the thought of once again having this group of outlaws solving his problems for him, he was actually glad that the pirates were here.

`Who are you kidding?´ He thought to himself. `You are the one who is practically using them to end this crisis and you certainly won´t be thanking them when this is over, at least not directly.´

It came as it had to come. Vice admiral Onigumo had taken his entire group of "elite marines", all of them completely fanatical underlings who would follow every order without question, to face the Straw-Hats in the hope to take them out.

And he was betting every sum that the revolutionary commander was just doing the same thing with his troops.

To Smokers surprise the fight didn´t even take that long. The Straw-Hats were outnumbered twenty to one and the most of them very good fighters, but they were still dealing with their enemies quite easily. They had grown far more in strength than Smoker had expected. It was good to know that for the next time they would meet.

He saw that many of the marine soldiers were very reluctant to join the fight and help their leader. Good, Smoker thought, maybe all sense wasn´t completely lost on the marines after all.

The revolutionaries seemed as unwilling to fight and support Burg, probably especially against the son of their leader.

Ironically, in the end Onigumo and Burg were fighting side by side.

After a few more minutes, the Straw-Hat crew had won. One group of them, consisting of Lorenor Zoro, Robyn, Frankie and the Skeleton, had been fighting the revolutionary elite soldiers, while Luffy himself, Black Leg, Nami, Usopp and the reindeer had beaten the marine group.

Now the Straw-Hats were standing in opposite to the combined force of both armies.

Some of the marines were unsure if they should attack the pirates and the rebels or not. Sure, the Straw-Hats might have prevented a complete disaster, but technically, it was still their duty to do it, no matter the circumstances.

The revolutionaries on their side, made no hostile move. Without their fanatical commander, they seemed to see no reason to endanger anyone anymore. A few of them actually took position behind the Straw-Hat pirates, obviously intending to back Dragon´s son up.

"Marines, stay down", Smoker ordered.

"Admiral Smoker?", one of the solders asked.

"This is enough. I am taking command and this battle is over."

Smoker walked closer to the Straw-Hat pirates and the group of revos that were now supporting them. He recognized the man in front of the group as "Running Jack", a known revolutionary with a bounty on his head.

"Hey Smoker", Luffy greeted him, "You are here too? It is nice to see you."

"I am not in the mood for you nonsense Straw-Hat", Smoker told him. "I advice you to leave this island now.

We will allow the rebels to retreat from this area", he said, more to the marines around him. "The safety of the civilians has priority. As it should have from the beginning", he said more quietly.

"Come Luffy", the red headed navigator said to him, "there is nothing for us to do here anymore."

"She is right, you better go now", Smoker told him. "But the next time I will not let you go."

"Smoker", Luffy said with his typical grin, "I am looking out for it."

Then he turned around to just run away with the rest of his comrades, like they always did for some reason.

"We are just letting them go?" One of the marines asked.

"We would be risking to destroy the entire town if we were fighting them now. Do you want that?"

"No, but."

"Then I think you should return to your duties now."

Yes, it all went as he had anticipated, he thought. In some twisted sense it had all gone according to plan and once again the Straw-Hats had solved the problems for him.

"Just like in alabasta", Tashigi said as she stepped a bit closer to him.

"Yes", he said, "just like alabasta."

"So we are just letting them go, once again."

"Given the situation it was the right thing. Wouldn´t you agree?"

"Yes, but what about the world government and fleet admiral Sakazuki. What will they say about this?"

"To be honest? My personal opinion? To hell with them all."

"What?" Tashigi asked shocked.

"Don´t worry, I will explain this to the government and to Sakazuki. They will accept my reasoning."

"And if not?" Tashigi asked him concerned. "We have let the Straw-Hats go several times now when we should have arrested them. Sure, we did it to protect innocent people, but still."

"They will have to accept it Tashigi. The marines can simply not afford to loose us. They might not like our methods but they know that they need us."


End file.
